Lugdunum, formerly known as the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière, is a museum of

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

civilisation in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

(Roman

Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settlem ...

). Previously presented at the

Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon (french: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon) is a municipal museum of fine arts in the French city of Lyon. Located near the Place des Terreaux, it is housed in a former Benedictine convent which was active during the 1 ...

and the Antiquarium, the municipal Gallo-Roman collection was transferred to a new building designed by

Bernard Zehrfuss Bernard Louis Zehrfuss (Angers, 20 October 1911 – Neuilly-sur-Seine, 3 July 1996) was a French architect. Life He was born at Angers, into a family that had fled from the Alsace in 1870 after the Franco-Prussian War. Zehrfuss's father was ki ...

and opened in 1975 near the city's Roman theatre and odeon, on a hill known as

Fourvière Fourvière () is a district of Lyon, France, a hill immediately west of the old part of the town, rising from the river Saône. It is the site of the original Roman settlement of Lugdunum in 43 BC. The district contains many religious buildings i ...

, located in the heart of the Roman city. Internally, it is formed of a concrete spiral ramp descending and branching out into the display rooms. It is managed and operated by the

Metropolis of Lyon The Metropolis of Lyon (french: Métropole de Lyon), also known as ("Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity located in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly elected metropolitan authority encompassing t ...

jointly with the archaeological museum of

Saint-Romain-en-Gal Saint-Romain-en-Gal (; frp, Sant-Reman-en-Gâl) is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It is located south of Lyon, on the west bank of the river Rhône. Vienne, Isère is on the opposite bank of the river and the two settlemen ...

. As well as displaying its own permanent collections of Roman, Celtic and pre-Roman material (inscriptions, statues, jewellery, everyday objects), a

plan-relief A plan-relief is a scale model of a landscape and buildings produced for military usage, made to visualize building projects on fortifications or campaigns surrounding fortified locations. History The first examples seem to have been used by the ...

of the ancient town and scale models of its major monuments such as the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and the

Odeon Odeon may refer to: Ancient Greek and Roman buildings * Odeon (building), ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions * Odeon of Agrippa, Athens * Odeon of Athens * Odeon of Domitian, Rome ...

, it also regularly hosts temporary exhibitions.

Circus Mosaic

Discovered in the

Ainay Ainay is an area within the Presqu'ile district in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, to the south of Place Bellecour and the north of Perrache. It is best known for its Romanesque church, the Basilica of Saint-Martin d'Ainay. A high-class area, b ...

district in 1806, this mosaic shows a circus during a chariot race, making it one of the few ancient representations of such a race (Lyon itself had a circus, the place of which has not been discovered).

Other Objects

* the Gallic

Coligny calendar The Coligny calendar is a second century Celtic calendar found in 1897 in Coligny, France. It is a lunisolar calendar with a five-year cycle of 62 months. It has been used to reconstruct the ancient Celtic calendar. The letters on the cale ...

* fragments of the decoration of the Altar of Rome and Augustus, from the federal sanctuary of the three Gauls * the

Lyon Tablet The Lyon Tablet is an ancient bronze tablet that bears the transcript of a speech given by the Roman emperor Claudius. The surviving bottom portion of the tablet was discovered in 1528 by a draper in his vineyard on Croix-Rousse Hill (on the site ...

, a speech by

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

* large mosaics such as La mosaïque de Bacchus and the Mosaïque aux Svastikas (

Swastikas The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

Mosaic). * the Taurobolic Altar, dedicated in 160 to restore the health of

Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius (Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatoria ...

* many large Dionysiac sarcophagi, including the Sarcophagus of the Triumph of Bacchus * the

Lyon-Vaise Hoard {{Expand French, Trésor de Lyon-Vaise, date=December 2009 The Lyon-Vaise Hoard is a 3rd-century ancient Roman hoard of precious objects, found in Lyon (Roman Lugdunum) in 1992 and now on display in the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon Lugdunum, form ...

of dishes, jewellery and silver statuettes buried during a 3rd-century Germanic invasion

External links

Official website
(in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lugdunum Museums of ancient Rome in France Museums in Lyon Roman Lyon 5th arrondissement of Lyon Buildings and structures completed in 1975 Museums established in 1975 1975 establishments in France Modernist architecture in France Gallo-Roman culture